Iraq

Our Research & Offerings on Iraq

Al-Qaeda killed more than 120 Europeans on 9/11 and has struck within Europe on multiple occasions since. Most recently, terrorists trained by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Yemen murdered 12 people at Charlie Hebdo magazine’s offices in Paris. There is little doubt the group will attempt to strike at Europe again.
This is also the assessment of U.K. Defense…

The long-delayed military campaign to liberate Mosul from ISIS occupation is in its early stages. However, as the central government in Baghdad and policymakers in the U.S. will soon find out, the military operation will be the easy part.
Washington must encourage Baghdad to prepare a post-liberation political framework for Mosul now in order to cement a lasting…

Iran is consolidating its gains on multiple fronts under the July 2015 nuclear agreement reached with the P5+1 (the five permanent members of U.N. Security Council plus Germany). The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that addressed the nuclear issue has also bolstered Iran’s theocratic dictatorship in the economic, trade, political, diplomatic, military, and…

On March 17, 2016, Secretary of State John Kerry declared that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) had committed genocide against Yazidis, Christians, and Shiite Muslims in Iraq and Syria.[1] The State Department’s decision to label ISIS acts as genocide came on the heels of a “sense of Congress” resolution, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives March 14,…

The Islamic State’s recent global terror campaign—including the October 31 downing of a Russian passenger jet that killed 224 and the November 13 shooting attacks in Paris that killed 130 restaurant patrons and concert-goers—has increased the urgency for the U.S. to lead a global alliance to defeat the Islamic State and its ideology.
ISIS has also been able to establish a…

The
Iraqi people desperately need to have their oil flowing again to
the global market. Restarting the flow of Iraqi oil would be a
win-win proposition, as not only the Iraqis, but also consumers
around the world would benefit from bringing the Iraqi oil supply
back on line.
The
main impediment to increasing Iraqi oil production at this point is
lack of…

As fighting in
Iraq winds down and coalition forces stamp out the last remaining
pockets of resistance, coalition forces and humanitarian agencies
are only beginning to document the atrocities that occurred under
this brutal regime. According to senior officials at the
U.S. Department of State, "the Iraqi regime has not only acted
contrary to international laws and…

The situation in Iraq is bad and it’s getting worse.
This week, the terrorist group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, announced the formation of an Islamic state — or caliphate — across the swath of territory it is currently holding.
It’s a big deal — for a lot of reasons.
First, while holding territory can be more difficult than taking it, just…

Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship has been rocked by a string of military defeats and by internal tensions within the minority Alawite-dominated regime that is battling for its life against a rising tide of predominantly Sunni rebel groups. Casualties, defections, and loss of territory have severely undermined the Syrian Army and Syria’s security services, forcing the Assad…

Allegations that U.S.
Marines murdered Iraqi civilians in Haditha are deeply troubling.
The American government bears a grave responsibility to fully meet
its obligations to investigate and dispense justice without
reservation. At the same time, the United States must continue to
pursue the vital national interest of building an independent and
stable…

Countries in both the developed and
developing worlds rely on a stable and secure supply of oil.
However, abuses and misallocations of oil revenues often lead to
social and political instability and, at times, armed conflict. The
broader the political cooperation and public consensus, and the
greater the transparency in the management of oil revenues, the
greater…

As
the Bush Administration and Iraqi opposition groups plan the future
of a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq without its weapons of mass
destruction (WMD), economic issues loom large. Iraq's economy has
been grossly mismanaged, and its people largely repressed, for 40
years.
Iraq
desperately needs an alternative to the failed policies of its
dictator. Sound economics…

Secretary of State John Kerry recently floated a mind-boggling idea: To help turn back ISIS, the Islamic terrorist group that has seized control of more than a third of Iraq, the U.S. could enter a cooperative arrangement with the mullahs of Iran.
Yes, the administration still clings to the notion that it can advance American interests by cutting a deal with Tehran. No…

President George W. Bush's resolve in
confronting Iraq over its decade-long record of defiance of the
United Nations has succeeded in getting Baghdad to agree
unconditionally to the return of U.N. weapons inspectors. Their
mission will continue to be to search out and destroy Iraq's
weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missiles. While
Baghdad's recent…

Former secretary of state, national security adviser and Nobel Peace Prize winner Henry Kissinger is, by all measures, a foreign policy heavy weight. At a recent black-tie dinner, he stood—stoop-shouldered and peering imperiously over his signature thick, black-frame glasses—and remarked: “Unilateral withdrawal is not victory.”
Whom could he have been talking…

The long-delayed military campaign to liberate Mosul from ISIS occupation is in its early stages. However, as the central government in Baghdad and policymakers in the U.S. will soon find out, the military operation will be the easy part.
Washington must encourage Baghdad to prepare a post-liberation political framework for Mosul now in order to cement a lasting…

Iran is consolidating its gains on multiple fronts under the July 2015 nuclear agreement reached with the P5+1 (the five permanent members of U.N. Security Council plus Germany). The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that addressed the nuclear issue has also bolstered Iran’s theocratic dictatorship in the economic, trade, political, diplomatic, military, and…

On March 17, 2016, Secretary of State John Kerry declared that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) had committed genocide against Yazidis, Christians, and Shiite Muslims in Iraq and Syria.[1] The State Department’s decision to label ISIS acts as genocide came on the heels of a “sense of Congress” resolution, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives March 14,…

The Islamic State’s recent global terror campaign—including the October 31 downing of a Russian passenger jet that killed 224 and the November 13 shooting attacks in Paris that killed 130 restaurant patrons and concert-goers—has increased the urgency for the U.S. to lead a global alliance to defeat the Islamic State and its ideology.
ISIS has also been able to establish a…

Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship has been rocked by a string of military defeats and by internal tensions within the minority Alawite-dominated regime that is battling for its life against a rising tide of predominantly Sunni rebel groups. Casualties, defections, and loss of territory have severely undermined the Syrian Army and Syria’s security services, forcing the Assad…

The air strikes against Islamist terrorist groups in Syria that the U.S. launched on September 22 included strikes against a group that few Americans had heard about before: the Khorasan group. Although sometimes mistakenly characterized as a new terrorist group, Khorasan is a new tentacle of an old organization—the al-Qaeda high-command or core group. The rise of the…

The situation in Iraq remains grave. Spiraling violence, political instability, and a humanitarian crisis caused by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) could impact U.S. vital interests. The Obama Administration has an obligation to take responsible action. Congress should insist the President take immediate, suitable, and appropriate measures to safeguard American…

Iraq faces major political, national security, and economic challenges that should be addressed by the new government that emerges from the April 30 elections. Last year, more than 7,800 civilians and 1,050 members of the security forces were killed in political violence and terrorist attacks, making it Iraq’s deadliest year since 2008.
The Islamic State of Iraq and…

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki came to Washington last week in search of greater U.S. security assistance in battling the al-Qaeda-led insurgency that increasingly threatens Iraq's internal security as well as regional stability in the oil-rich Persian Gulf.
The United States shares Maliki's goal of defeating al-Qaeda's franchise in Iraq, which has expanded into…

Last week White House Press Secretary Jay Carney promised the President would soon make a major address “on the Middle East and U.S. policy in the Middle East...to a broader audience than just the Arab world.” It is long past time for President Barack Obama to lay out a plan for how his Administration will address the historic change sweeping this part of the world. By…

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